Young, Brash and Cocky: Nick Wale Interviewed By Simon Duringer

(Reblogged from Simon Duringers website.)

For those who don’t recognise the name, you should…. Novel Reads by Novel Ideas is the Bestselling E-Zine run by Britain’s very own PR and Promotions expert to the Indie world of publishing; The Very Expert Nick Wale.

With a handsome list of clientele extending across the seven seas, Nick is quickly becoming a fixture in Indie Publishing that cannot be ignored. His talent for catching an interview opportunity and following up on leads for his clients is remarkable. Working across several time zones he endures endless hours in pursuit of promotional excellence for his clients.

In the Indie world we all know the importance and impact of those who review our work, so let’s not take my word for it but soak up the contents of this 5* review of Nick’s work by one of his very prominent clients;

“He soaks up information like a sponge and can take a new idea further in a day than anyone I’ve met in years. You would be very fortunate to have Mr Wale working for you”.~ Terry Irving- Emmy-award winning TV news producer and author of “Courier”.

Ladies and gentlemen, take several deep breaths and prepare to be windswept… The whirlwind that is Nick Wale is in the house…

Today Nick Wale has joined me on Simons 10 Q Interviews; whilst I may have been asking the questions, I can’t help but feel that Nick Wale has been controlling the pace. His enthusiasm is unquestionable and he fired back answers like roadrunner on speed. His motivation towards his clients is viral and addictive and his pitch is deadly…. Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen as before the end of this interview you could find his frank, open and honest answers enthusing you to march down Pall Mall bearing placards stating “Nick Wale for Prime Minister” and… I think he’d get my vote!

Welcome Nick Wale….

SD Q1: You entered publishing in the midst of a revolution and effectively created your own niche promoting the work of others; Already the creator of multiple Indie Bestsellers on behalf of your clients, what has been your proudest moment so far and why?
NW A1: My proudest moment? I think that must have been when Cliff Roberts broke into the top ten with three consecutive books. It was a lot of hard work that paid off. The first two Reprisalbooks sold several thousand copies during their first couple of weeks of release. That was a thrill– then to win sales awards, win the attention of other authors and be copied by them? To have my PR style borrowed by authors all over the world? To tell the foreman where to stick it and become my own boss? All proud moments… I’ve been blessed, and that in itself may be my proudest moment. I really hit the cosmic jackpot with my career. From unemployed dude, to interviewer, to PR guy to….what’s next? It took a year of graft to get this far. Just think where it’ll be in a few years? It excites me just thinking about it. That may be my proudest moment–just there–thinking about the journey I have undertaken and what is yet to come.

SD Q2: How many books do you estimate you have read over the years and what is your preferred genre both as reader and promoter?
NW A2: I’ve read probably more than I’ve promoted! Seriously, I have spent years reading and that’s no lie. I’ve read until I’ve gone cross-eyed. My preferred genre? Hell, kid! I can make anything sell, so I don’t go for book racism. If it’s good I want it. I have had success with thrillers, mystery, horror, self-help… The list goes on! Nobody thought Tommy Ufert would hit the top spot… He did… twice!

SD Q3: The stable of authors you promote is already impressive, how many more can you handle on your own before reaching capacity and have you already got prospects to fill those gaps in your sights?
NW A3: I just signed a guy called Bruce Bennett who will become one of the biggest things I’ve ever handled. How many more can I handle? As many as I want. I believe in using to-do lists as much as possible. I work with a Chinese plate philosophy. Make one hit book and spin it–move onto the next–move onto the next–keep them all spinning, and when one fades, replace it with another hit. Right now, Cliff is selling, Mike Trahan is selling, RJ Smith is selling, etc… Bruce Bennett and Rosanne Dingli are going to start spinning soon. It’s a crazy world, and I love it. Who do I want next? I want anyone who has a great book! I’m young, brash, cocky and arrogantAND very good at making hits happen very quickly, so whilst I can keep the clients happy and their hits rolling I won’t be setting limits.

SD Q4: The Indie world is reputed to be pumping out 1,000,000 new titles each year and in turn this, as with most new and expanding market places, has attracted the less than scrupulous into the business looking for that quick buck. How would you advise those who are looking for assistance in getting published, to ensure that they do not overpay for publishing services or end up with a poor quality product for their money?
NW A4: Write great product, hire a good editor, like mine! Save yourself the heartbreak of begging for a big publishing contract and self-publish. Then read what other bestsellers are doing and recreate the formula. Look at the way they list their books, the way they are pushing their product. Make great use of keywords and similar titles. Do not believe they have the edge. You have the edge. In this industry, you can DO ANYTHING you want! Want to be a big star?Do it! Now, I want to stress that you should not pay for anything you don’t have to. Don’t sign contracts with small publishing houses who want you to pay for your own returns. Don’t pay twenty-thousand dollars for editing five pages. If it smells bad, it’s bad, and steer away from it. If you’re an author and you want to succeed, you have to be prepared to spend some money, but let’s keep it serious, folks. If you don’t feel comfortable with a price you are given, shop around. There are con artists in this industry, and I have dealt with a fair few of them. Sometimes you will find that a small publisher wants to sign you just so you can pay him/her to edit your book. Sometimes a small publisher wants you to cover the cost of printing books. If they ask you to do that, return the contract in pieces. As an author you are required to pay for nothing for the actual publishing of your book. However, If you want a PR guy like me, you will have to shell out; if you want to have the book professionally edited (a must, as far as I’m concerned), you will need to shell out. Just don’t go paying the bills of no-value services, small-publishing outfits promising the world, and Tweeting services with three followers, kids. Certain people will try to make you do that, and you just have to keep your wits about you.

SD Q5: You regularly communicate with all your clients whom are located across all corners of the globe. Indeed working within the same time zone as you I have been astonished that sending emails on to you at the crack of sparrows more often than not generates an instant response, even on weekends! How does an ‘average’ day pan out for you?
NW A5: I wake up around 10am UK time and start my day by catching the news, always the news. Then I check my email from my nice, comfy bed. I make sure to spin a few records in the morning and answer urgent mail. URGENT usually comes from Cliff Roberts who wants to know when his next royalty check is going to arrive. I then have some breakfast, catch a few smokes and stumble into my office. My laptop is usually waiting for me and it’s off to work. First thing– make sure FB pages are updated and check FB messages; then onto Twitter, nickwale.org, and so it goes. I then start pushing books, and it doesn’t stop. I can be on the phone with Hollywood one second and Skyping with Mr R Briggs from Australia the next. Once I am in front of my laptop working, there’s no set anything. I work until I drop, and then I wake up the next day and do the whole thing over again. Emmy-winner Terry Irving, one of my first major clients, once asked, “Does Nick ever sleep?”
Always! You’d never know it though.

SD Q6: You agree to spend the rest of your days sealed within the British Library. Noting your passion for books, those incarcerating you decide you will be provided with everything you need to live out your days wanting for nothing. Your final granted concession is to choose within which departments to build the final four areas of your accommodation, though you will have to live amongst the literature held there. One area per department of your choice; Where would you choose to put; your living room, kitchen, bedroom and lavatory and why?

NW A6:
Living Room The smoking section.
Kitchen Hmm… Magazine section so I can check out the latest Playboy issue whilst I cook.
Bedroom Near the exit so I can sneak out for a few burgers.
Lavatory Thriller section so I can read in comfort.

SD Q7: For those who remain undecided between self publishing and traditional publishing, what in your opinion are the key pros and cons for each side of the argument?
NW A7: Traditional publishing? Long waits to hear from agents, disinterested publishing companies and a lack of support from them when you do get signed. Low sales, high returns and a slapstick style of promotion. Have you checked out the book posters they come up with? A chimp could do better. In fact… I hear Arrow use trained monkeys to do their promotional posters instead of paying for artists. If they had any brains they would be hiring the George Vegas of the world.

Self-publishing? Crap shoot– but a crap shoot YOU control! You can do whatever you want with it, and if you fail, you fail because you failed. If you succeed, you become a well-read, respected author with a bunch of money in your pocket. Isn’t that fairer? A chance to make it big without paying for the board meetings of Harper Collins.

SD Q8: I must congratulate you on your own publication Novel Reads which became an instant hit with top rankings on amazon. For the benefit of those considering a promoter for an existing or new publication, can you tell them what the final download number was for ‘Novel Reads’, what ranking it received and how quickly it got there?
NW A8: Novel Reads By Novel Ideas went to #1 in the U.S within a few hours and hit the UK #1 spot a few hours later. We moved several thousand copies within the first five days. We had a 50% increase in readership this month and next month will see another climb. The whole premise of the magazine is to put the spotlight right on top of independent books. The industry, Simon, is changing and you need visibility. E-zines are as essential to writers as Rolling Stone was to recording artists in the ’70s. If you want to be read, you need to be seen.

SD Q9: What is your favourite book and if different, your favourite author of all time and why?
NW A9: My favourite book is the Bible. I have always been fascinated by religious texts and the Bible is every single type of book all rolled into one easy to read package. Want adventure? Want inspiration? Put Deepak Chopra down and get yourself a copy of the Bible, the greatest text of all.

SD Q10: In your opinion, what does the future hold for the publishing industry and will traditional publishing survive within this on-going revolution?
NW A10: I get asked this a lot and my reply is as follows. The traditional publishing industry is about as relevant now as two cans with string would be to the British Telecom of today. There is NO future for the traditional publishing industry as stands. It’s a dying monster that refused to change with the times. I have heard it said that Neanderthal man still exists in the minds of the men and women running Harper Collins. Backward thinking, backward focused dinosaurs– the lot of them. It will be a pleasure to see these bigoted, small-minded companies falter and self-published authors take over the industry. If it was up to these conglomerates of evil we would lose hundreds of thousands of great manuscripts every year. We would be force-fed celebrity biographies until illiteracy ran rampant. Their slide has been a long time coming and good riddance. Let celebrity biographies become self-published and save us from the frankly boring and irresponsible lectures of self-help analysts with 1 million dollar contracts in their pockets. Additionally, when traditional publishing companies DO release a book worthy of reading, they dump promotional duties back on the author. What’s the point? Why give these companies your royalties when they do nothing for you? Self-publish, join the revolution and become part of the future. That’s what I have to say to authors– become the future and forget the past.

Website: http://nickwale.org/
Novel Reads: http://www.amazon.com/Novel-Reads-By-Ideas-ebook/dp/B00F0XL5UQ

Interviewer Simon Duringer’s 5* Amazon rated thriller Stray Bullet can be purchased at;
Stray Bullet – US Purchases
Stray Bullet – UK Purchases